Fifth-Year Options

Since the 2011 Collective Bargaining Agreement each NFL team receives a fifth-year option on their first round draft picks. The deadline for picking up that option is prior to May 3 before each player's third season. This year, that decision is on the players selected in the first round of the 2015 NFL Draft. Here are the results of those decisions.

1.   Jameis Winston, QB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers-picked up
2.   Marcus Mariota, QB, Tennessee Titans-picked up
3.   Dante Fowler Jr., DE, Jacksonville Jaguars-not exercised
4.   Amari Cooper, WR, Oakland Raiders-picked up
5.   Brandon Scherff, G, Washington Redskins-picked up
6.   Leonard Williams, DE, New York Jets-picked up
7.   Kevin White, WR, Chicago Bears-not exercised
8.   Vic Beasley, DE, Atlanta Falcons-picked up
9.   Ereck Flowers, OT, New York Giants-not exercised
10. Todd Gurley, RB, Los Angeles Rams-picked up
11. Trae Waynes, CB, Minnesota Vikings-picked up
12. Danny Shelton, DT, New England Patriots-not exercised
13. Andrus Peat, OT, New Orleans Saints-picked up
14. DeVante Parker, WR, Miami Dolphins-picked up
15. Melvin Gordon, RB, Los Angeles Chargers-picked up
16. Kevin Johnson, CB, Houston Texans-picked up
17. Arik Armstead, DE, San Francisco 49ers-picked up
18. Marcus Peters, CB, Los Angeles Rams-picked up
19. Cameron Erving, C, Kansas City Chiefs-not exercised
20. Nelson Agholor, WR, Philadelphia Eagles-picked up
21. Cedric Ogbuehi, OT, Cincinnati Bengals-not exercised
22. Bud Dupree, LB, Pittsburgh Steelers-picked up
23. Shane Ray, DE, Denver Broncos-not exercised
24. D.J. Humphries, OT, Arizona Cardinals-picked up
25. Shaq Thompson, LB, Carolina Panthers-picked up
26. Breshad Perriman, WR, Baltimore Ravens-not exercised
27. Byron Jones, DB, Dallas Cowboys-picked up
28. Laken Tomlinson, G, San Francisco 49ers-not exercised
29. Phillip Dorsett, WR, New England Patriots-not exercised
30. Damarious Randall, DB, Cleveland Browns-pcked up
31. Stephone Anthony, LB, Miami Dolphins-not exercised
32. Malcom Brown, DT, New England Patriots-not exercised

20 of the 32 players had their fifth-year option picked up. Those options are only guaranteed for injuries.

Trades since the 2015 NFL Draft put the fifth-year option decisions for seven players in the hands of a team other than the one that drafted him.

Danny Shelton-traded from the Browns to the Patriots
Marcus Peters-traded from the Chiefs to the Rams
Cameron Erving-traded from the Browns to the Chiefs
Laken Tomlinson-traded from the Lions to the 49ers
Phillip Dorsett-traded from the Colts to the Patriots
Damarious Randall-traded from the Packers to the Browns
Stephone Anthony-traded from the Saints to the Dolphins

If exercising the option is proper gauge of whether a team is happy with a player that they drafted, all but Peters and Randall failed to make two teams happy.

The Patriots had decisions to make on three players.
Danny Shelton
Phillip Dorsett
Malcom Brown
They declined to pick up the options on all three. The Patriots are hard to please. Shelton didn't ever get a chance to please seeing as he was acquired about three months ago.

The salaries for the fifth-year options are determined by draft position:
Picks 1-10 receive a salary equal to the average of the 10 highest salaries at their position. Picks 11-32 receive a salary equal to the average of the third to 25th highest salaries at their position.